Lubricating apparatus



Oct. l, 1929. M F CARR 1,729,985

LUBRIGATING' APPARATUS Filed Oct. 9, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet l I E .1. F1', .5. 3 3 a,

l 9 xL l 26 6 Oct. 1, 1929. M, E CARR 1,729,985

LUBRI CATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 9, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Eiga?.

\ l 1 H le H /l 9 6 kl f 24? @M MMJW Patented oct. 1, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOSES F. CARR, OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, '.BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO ALEMITE CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE LUBRIGATING APPARATUS Application filed 'October 9, 1926. Serial No. 140,527.

This invention aims to provide improvement 1n lubrlcatlng apparatus and particularly in portable lubricant supply tanks.

In `the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention l Figure 1 is a side elevation of vthe tank showing the hose and gun attached at the disl charge end of the tank;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the tank as viewed from the right ofiFigure 1, the hose and gun being omitted;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the tank;

Fig. 4 is a section through the tank on the line 4.--4 of Fig. 2, showing parts thereof in elevation;

Fig. 5 is a partial section of the tank showing the relation of parts associated with the piston in the tank when under pressure;

Fig. 6 is a plan section on the line 6 6 of Fg- 4;

Fig. 7 is a section showing a portion of the tank and the high pressure chamber with the high pressure plunger in position of discharging lubricant;

Fig. 8 is a plan section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8, showing only a portion of the tank with the mechanism for operating the piston and high pressure plunger.

Referring to the embodiment of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings, I-

have illustrated a portable lubricant device particularly, though not exclusively, adapted for use in garages and manufacturing plants where a largenumber of parts to be lubricated could be lubricated more quickly from a tank of lubricant than by the ordinary hand gun method which would require unnecessary Waste of time in frequent refillingv of the gun.A

The device as illustrated includes a tank 1, mounted upon a base 2 having a pair of wheels 3 secured to one end thereof, as shown in Figs..1, 2 and 3. Within the tank, I prol vide a piston 4 connected to a rack rod .5, or piston rod, vwhich extends through an opening i the top of the tank as shown in Fig. 4. T`e rod 5 is guided partly by a roller "6, which provides a smooth bearing against which the rod may slide easily. A handle 6a is secured to the upper end of the rack rod 5, to provide means by which the tank maybe pushed about, when the base 2 is raised from the floor. The handle 6a, also provides means for returning the piston 4 to the upper end of the tank to permit refilling. The .piston 4 may be forceddownwardly in the tank by means of a hand wheel 7, mounted upon a shaft 7a journalled in a pair of brackets 9, 9 carried by theI cover 8, as shown in- Figs. 8 and 9. .The shaft 7a carries a pinion 10, which engages the teeth of the rack rod 5.

A ratchet gear 11 is also carried by the shaft 7a at one side of the pinion 10 (Figs. 8 and 9) and is engaged by a pawl 12, pivoted upon one of the brackets 9. The'ratchet gear 11 and pawl 12 cooperate to prevent turning of the shaft in one direction until released `by movement of the handle 13.

Near the bottom of the tank 1, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, is provided a part 14 providing a chamber 15 of relatively small cross-sectional area. At one side of the tank is mounted a slidable rod 16 mounted in a bracket 17, and one end of the rod passes through a packing 18 into the chamber 15, to provide a piston 19 for forcing the lubricant from the chamber under relatively high potential pressure.

The chamber 1 5 is connected with the tank 1 by a passage 20. Flexible hose 21 (Figs.

v1 and 4) is connected to the part 14 and communicates with the chamber l5 by means of the passage 22, in which is located a ball check 23.' At the free end of the iexible hose 21, I provide a coupling member 21*l for making a quick detachable connection with a nipple on a part to be lubricated (not shown).

The piston rod 16 may be urged downwardly by means of a second rod 24 mounted in brackets 25, 25 securedy to the side of the cover -8 above the bracket 17. This rod is connected-by means of a link 26 to a hand lever 27 pivoted on a shaft 27 a, journalled in the brackets 9, 9. While the piston rod 16 may be reciprocated by means of the hand lever 27, I prefer to use the' 'hand lever to move the piston rod downwardly, and a bracket 17, to move the piston rod upwardly.

The pins 28a and 28" limit the movement of the piston rod 16.

The piston 4 may be connected directly to the rack rod 5, but I prefer to secure it thereto by means of a pin 29 and slot 3() (Fig. 4) to provide for limited relative lost motion movement between the two. With the arrangement of parts shown, I provide a shoulder 31 on the rack rod 5. This shoulder directly engages a washer 32 disposed directly above the piston 4. Between the piston 2 and washer 32 is provided resilient means in the form of coil springs 33.

These springs normally hold the washer and piston apart so that the pin 29 engages the wall at the end of the slot 30, as shown in Fig. 4.

In the operation of the device, the lhand wheel 7 may be turned to yforce the piston 4 downwardly to compress the lubricant in the tank 1. The action of the piston 4 and associated parts, which takes place during this compressing operation, is best indicated by Figs. 4 and 5. Fig. 4 shows the relation of parts before the lubricant has been compressed, and Fig. 5 shows the pin 29 at the upper end of the slot 30 with the springs 33 under compression. When the operator releases his hold on the hand wheel 7, the pawl 12 (Figs. 8 and 9) will engage the ratchet gear 11 and lock the driving pinion 10 and rod 5 against permitting accidental return of the piston 4 or associated parts, while the lubricant in the tank is under compression.

The coupling member 21a (Fig. 1) may now be connected to a nipple on a part to be lubricated and the operator may press downwardly on the lever 27 toforce the lubricant yfrom the chamber 15, under relatively high potential pressure. Ordinarily the pressure of the lubricant and quantity received from each stroke of the piston 19 is sufficient to lubricate a bearing.

During the lubricating operation, the lubricant flows under pressure from the tank 2 through the passage into the chamber 15, and as far as the ball check 23, when the piston 19 is in the position shown in Fig. 4. When the piston 19 is forced downwardly, as shown in Fig. 7, the passage 20 is cut off and the piston lforces a measured quantity of lubri-V cant past the ball check 23, through the passage 22 to the hose 21.

With an ordinary piston construction where the piston in the tank is connecte rigidly to the stem, the pressure of the lubricant is soon reduced in the tank, after the high pressure piston is operated a few times. With the construction above described and shown in the drawings, the lubricant in the tank 2 will be forced to the chamber 15, until the pin 29 again reaches the lower end of the slot, as shown in Fig.- 4. Thus the springs 33 automatically act upon thepiston to produce an extended period of feeding lubricant to the chamber 15 without ope-ration of the handwheel 7. The result therefore is that the handwheel requires less frequent turning with my improved piston construction than when an ordinary piston construction is used.

In order to refill the tank 1, when empty, the pawl 12 must be released by swinging the handle 13 from the position shown in Fig. 8 to the dotted position shown in Fig. 9. Then the operator may either turn the handwheel 7 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, to move the piston 4 up into the cover 8,v or pull upwardly on the handle 6a. The latter is preferable because easier and quicker. The cover 8 and parts carried thereby may then be removed by loosening the set screws 35, so that the tank may be easily and quickly filled with lubricant. After refilling of the tank, the cover may be returned to its position and v clamped in place by the screws 35, and the scribed.

While I have shown and described a pre ferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that the drawings and descr iption are for purposes of clarification rather than limitation, my invention being best dened in the following claims.

Claims: i y

1. In high pressure lubricating apparatus of the class described, a supply tank a piston in said tank, a Arack stem extending from said piston, a`pinion gear meshing with the teeth of said rack stem, driving means for turning said pinion thereby to move said piston to compressthe lubricant in said tank, means cooperating with said driving means to prevent accidental turning thereof in such direction as would result in releasing the pressure of the lubricant, a high pressure cylinder supplied from said tank and parallel thereto, a high pressure piston in said cylinder, and lever means for operating said high pressure piston.

2. In high pressure lubricating apparatus of the class described, the combination of a supply tank, a resilient piston in said tank, a rack stem extending from said piston, a pinion gear meshing with the teeth of said rack stem, driving means for turning said pinion thereby to move said piston to compress the lubricant in said tank, a pawl cooperating with said piston to permit turning in one direction only-thereby .preventing acd cidental release of pressure in said tank, said pawl releasable when desirable to refill said tank thereby to permit turning of said pinion in such direction as will permit said piston and rack stem toslide easily relative to said tank, said tank having a base including a part projecting laterally therefrom and forming a high pressure cylinder supplied from said tank, a high pressure piston in said cylinder, `and means for reciprocating said piston including a lever pivoted to the upper part of said tank.

3. High pressure lubricating apparatus of the class described comprising, in combination, a supply tank, a piston in said tank, a rack stem extending from said piston, a pinion gear meshing with the teeth of said rack stern, driving means for turning said pinion thereby to move said piston to compress the lubricant in said tank, a-pawl cooperating with said piston to permit turning in one direction only thereby preventing accidental release of pressure in said tank, Said pawl releasable when desirable to rell said tank, a handle on the end of said rack stem by which the operator may easily and uickly pull the piston from the lower end to t e upper end of said tank so that said tank may be refilled, a high pressure cylinder integral with the base of said tank and supplied therefrom, a high'pressure iston operable in said cylinder, a spring or operating said high pressure piston in one direction, and a lever piv.

oted to said tank for operating said high pressure piston against the vtension of said spring.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

MOSES F. CARR. 

